Birth of a playboy
Vespa
The Piaggio Company which produces Vespas was founded in Genoa, Italy in 1884 by Rinaldo Piaggio. In the early years Piaggio built a variety of products from wood-working machinery to cars and boats. During World War I the company started building airplanes and parts and indeed Piaggio designed and manufacturered many advancements in the aviation field.
After Rinaldo Piaggio's death in 1938, the business was passed on to his two sons, Enrico and Armando. Throughout World War II, under the guidance of Enrico the company continued to build airplanes including Italy's only heavy bomber, the PI08B, which during a testing flight, took the life of Benito Mussolini's son, Bruno. The factory at Pontedera became a prime target for allied bombing raids and was in ruins by the end of the war.
With over 10,000 employees out of work, the the immediate post war days did not look good. Because of the Allied Peace Treaty, Piaggio was prohibited from manufacturing airplanes, therefore, it immediately became apparent that the company would have to find a new peacetime product for his company to produce. Enrico Piaggio's answer was the scooter; not only would it help relieve Italy's transportation dilemma but it would also get the factory and employees back in business.
Piaggio's first attempt at building a scooter was in 1945. It was a prototype, called Paparino (Donald Duck) and was designed and produced by design engineers Vittorio Casini and Renzo Spolti. Because of Paparino's odd appearance it was ridiculed by the press and public. Enrico Piaggio himself called Paparino "A horrible looking thing".
After Paparino, Enrico Piaggio enlisted head designer, engineer Corradino D'Ascanio to make his scooter dream a reality. D'Ascanio was head of the Aeronautics division and had extensive knowledge in stressed-skin body work, where the body is used to serve as the frame as well as the outer skin. Today, this design technique called unibody, is used extensively for motor vehicles.
The concept which Piaggio and D'Ascanio came up with was a step through design, making it simple for women in dresses and men in dress clothes to mount the scooter. It was to have a guard or shield in the front, floor boards and a covered engine to protect the rider from mud, oil and debris. The scooter had to be simple and economical to use, and be aesthetically pleasing. It only took D'Ascanio 3 months to complete the task and when Enrico first saw and heard the scooter run, he remarked that it reminded him of a wasp, or in Italian, Vespa.
The Vespa prototype debuted at the 1946 Turin Show and because of its affordability and practicality it didn't take long before Vespas could be seen across the world. Piaggio also succeeded in creating a spontaneous customer organisation:, that is, Vespa Clubs with their own magazines and facilities. The Italian union of Vespa riders was also born in 1949 and the same year, Miss Graziella Bontempo from Naples was elected the first Miss Vespa!
Over the years Piaggio has designed and built many different Vespa models. Even to this day the foundations which Enrico Piaggio and Corradino D'Ascanio laid out over 50 years ago, to build a practical and affordable mode of transportation.
For further information on Vespas visit: www.vespaclubofbritain.co.uk